Spring attachment for accelerator pedals



Feb. 12, 1924; 1,483,625 s. E. ARMSTRONG SPRING ATTACHMENT FOR ACCELERATOR PEDALS File d Dec. 24. 1921 Qwmmkoz,

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SAMUEL E. ARMSTRONG, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SPRING ATTACHMENT non roommates PEDALS.

Application filed December 24, 1921. Serial No. 524,598.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL E. ARM- STRONG, a citizen of the United States, residing at W'ashington, District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Spring Attachment for Accelerator Pedals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a spring attach-' ment for accelerator pedals.

An important object of this invention is to provide adevice which can be used with the usual accelerator pedal to hold the pedal steady and to counteract the involuntary movement of the drivers foot brought about by the lurching and vibration of the car over rough roads, or from other causes, and so that the drivers foot may be rested and a steady flow of fuel delivered to the carbureter. A further object of the invention is to provide such a structure for the device described that its tension can be readily ad justed to the pressure of the drivers foot and this without making the device complicated or expensive. 1

Further objects of the invention will appear in the following detailed description taken in connection with the following drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which V 3 Figure 1 isa section through the device as fitted about the accelerator pedal of an automobile, a portion of the head of the pedal being in section, and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the device.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the views, the numeral 5 indicates a lever having a screw-threaded socket 6 therein, and in Whichthe lower and screwthreaded end of the squared or keyed stem 7 of an accelerator pedal is fitted so that any movement of the stem 7 through an opening 8 in the floor-board 9 of the automobile will move the lever 5 to act upon the rod 10 to adjust the throttle of the carbureter, not shown. These connections are merely an example of the ordinary types of throttle operating mechanisms, as is the head 11 of the accelerator pedal which is screw threaded upon the upper end of the stem 7 and can be removed therefrom merely by applying a wrench to the square boss 12 on its under surface.

My attachment consists of a relatively small plate 13 and a larger plate 14 each of which has its edge upturned and overlapped as at 15 throughout the greater portion of its periphery so as to provide an annular passageway 16 about the edge of each plate. There is a squared 0r keyed aperture 17 in the center of the larger plate 14 and a somewhat larger aperture 18 in the smaller plate 13, for a purpose hereinafter described; i

A coil spring 19, preferably conical in outline, is provided and the lower terminal 20 of this spring is threaded through the annular passageway 16 of the plate 14:. The spring 19 is held against movement on the plate 14 by reason of a drop of solder binding the end 20 of the spring 19 to the plate 1 1 as shown at 21. The upper end of spring. 19 is fastened to plate 13 in a manner similar to the connection of the lower end 20 with the plate 1 1.

The device is attached to the stem 7 of the accelerator pedal merely by removing the pedal from the socket 6 in lever 5 and passing the squared stem 7 of the pedal through the squared apertures 18 and 17 in plates 13 and 14, respectively. Then when the accelerator pedal is again connected to the leverb, the larger plate 14; will bear upon the floor-board 9, and serve 'as a base platefor the spring 19. The smaller plate 13 will bear against the lower surface of the head 11 of the pedal, its aperture 18 being fitted about the boss 12.

It will be seen that the eflect of this attachment will be to hold the pedal up against the drivers foot at all times. There is of course a spring included in the throttle operating mechanism which tends to hold the throttle closed, but the spring 19 is adapted to directly counteract the pressure of the drivers foot on the. pedal head 11.

lVhen the car 15 moving over rough roads,

too strong, or perhaps not strong enough, to evenly counteract the pressure of the drivers foot, the tension can be properly adjusted by either unscrewing the head 11 of the pedal from the pedal stem 7 and rotating the plate 13 in the proper direction plate 14 will slide freely with the slight longitudinal movement of the pedal.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and changes in the size, shape and arrangement of parts i'nay be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or th scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim l. The combination with a throttle operating mechanism for an automobile, including an accelerator pedal, of aspring about the stem of said pedal to counteract the pressure of the drivers foot, said spring being held against rotation on said stem at its ends but being slidable thereon that either end may be removed from said stem and rotated to adjust the tension of said spring.

2. The combination with a throttle operating mechanism for an automobile, including an accelerator pedal which is adapted to be fitted to extend through the floor-board of said automobile, of a coil spring fitted about said pedal stem between the head of said pedal and said floor-board and its ends bearing against said head and floor-board, of means at both ends of said spring to hold it against rotation on said pedal stein, said means being slidable on said pedal stem that either of said means may be removed from said stem to be rotated to adjust the tension of said spring.

8. The combination with a throttle operating mechanism for an automobile, including a detachable pedal having a squared stem extending through the floor-board of said automobile, of a conical coil spring fitted about the squared stem of said pedal, means at the top of said spring whereby it Will be held against rotation on said squared stem, and a base plate, said base plate being fixed to the lower end of said spring and having a squared aperture therein to hold said plate against rotation about said squared stem and to bear against the floorboard of the automobile.

4:. A spring device comprising a coil spring, an upper plate and a base plate, the ends of said spring being fixed to said plates, said upper plate having a keyed aperture therein that it may be fitted on a keyed and headed reciprocable shaft to bear against the head of said shaft and said base plate having an aperture therein that it may be fitted on said shaft to bear against a surface opposite to the head of the shaft and adapted to be removed from the shaft to be rotated to adjust the tension of said spring, said aperture being keyed to hold said spring in adjusted position on the shaft.

Inwitness whereof I afiix my signature.

SAMUEL E. ARMSTRONG. 

